The history of black music in America spans four centuries, and now there is a museum that honors this legacy.
The National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), inaugurated on January 30 in Nashville, Tennessee, describes itself as “the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many musical genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans.”
Divided into six galleries covering four centuries, the museum educates visitors about the history and influence of black music in America, which can be traced back to the hymns and songs sung by enslaved Africans in the 1600s.
The NMAAM highlights over 50 genres created or influenced by African Americans, specifically focusing on spirituals, blues, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues (R&B), and hip-hop in its six galleries.
A collection of more than 1,500 objects, ranging from Louis Armstrong’s trumpet to one of Ella Fitzgerald’s Grammy awards, brings history to life.
The museum chose its location in Nashville due to the city’s historical ties to black music, which date back at least 150 years.
American music “was born in the South, and then at the end of slavery and the beginning of the Great Migration, when our grandparents began to migrate north (…) they left traces of that influence in Memphis and left traces in Nashville and traces in Johnson City,” said H. Beecher Hicks III, president and CEO of NMAAM.
Nashville’s famous nickname, “Music City,” dates back to the international tours of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an all-black a cappella group founded in 1871 at Fisk University, a historically black institution located in the city. The group even performed for Queen Victoria. The exhibition earned Nashville its reputation and the nickname of a paradise for African Americans who created and performed music.
Since then, the city has also become known for its white country artists and their music scene and recording studios. Nashville has over 180 venues where artists like Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton have made famous performances.
However, as the NMAAM makes clear, the history of black music in Nashville is equally prominent. Jefferson Street, in particular, was a hub for R&B music and musicians in the 1960s.
The history of Nashville and the NMAAM demonstrates not only the success of black musicians but also the influence they have had on artists of many subsequent American musical genres.
“Tennessee really, in many ways, is the place where American music was put to the test, although in more modern times it has been more prominent in other cities,” Hicks said. “We are just taking (American music) back to its birthplace.”
And as the museum states, “black music is the music of the United States.”
Source: https://share.america.gov